' How To ' Tips

 Paddle Net

How to Paddle OC Slalom?

 Explanatory Video - See Brian Otter's 2-minute video introduction with footage from Whitewater Ontario's Gull River Open Canoe Slalom.

"Stern Cam" Video - Put yourself in the pilot's saddle for a solo run through the gates at the 2008 OC slalom nationals!  Thanks to "CT c-boater", Bob P., who has several good videos of canoe slalom on You Tube.

 
Here's what I remember from a 1-day clinic with C-1 racer Ryan Mader... 

Compared to the usual river running, where you often want to have your boat "dig in" and stop in eddy, on a slalom course you don't want to stop in the eddies - you want to carry your momentum through the gate and on to the next one, planning the gates well in advance.  So, here are the top 3 lessons that I recall (for whatever that's worth!):

  1. Paddle in broad, round, arcing lines, like a race car driver,
    not zigging and zagging straight from point to point.

  1. Keep your boat flat and skimming along the surface, 
    don't tilt dramatically and have your boat "sloosh" to a halt.

  1. Paddle up front and use lots of cross-forward strokes, 
    stern corrections can kill your momentum.

          3a.  Keep your paddle vertical, or even past vertical.

          3b.  Do your strokes on the inside of your turns (see drills below).

 

Links

Techniques and exercises - 

Canoe slalom techniques (C1) from the British Canoe Union BCU Coaching

A wealth of slalom (C1) info on the pages of World Champion Davey Hearn

Get advice from Canada's top instructors (Andrew Westwood, Paul Mason and others)
from the archives of Rapid magazine's Open Canoe Technique

Searching Google images and YouTube should also give you a good idea about slalom paddling.

Updated 9 Sept, 2010